Three legendary coaches named to WNC Sports Hall of Fame

A trio of legendary high-school coaches who combined to win 15 state titles in three sports have been selected to the WNC Sports Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2018 includes football coach Bobby Poss and basketball and volleyball coaches Cindi Simmons and Jan Stanley.

They will be enshrined May 6 at the 57th WNC Sports Awards Banquet, presented by Ingles, at Omni Grove Park Inn.

Conducted by the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club, the banquet honors the top high school athletes and teams in WNC and serves as the induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame, presented by Dixon, Hughes Goodman. Nomination materials for student athletes will be sent out in early March to area schools.

Tickets for the banquet are $40, which begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes dinner. They can be purchased at WNCSportsAwards.org.

The banquet also gives scholarships to local high-school athletes, honors a Special Olympics athlete and awards a $1,000 grant to their organization, and names a Moog/Gene Ochsenreiter Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Poss, 67, is the only high-school football coach in the history of N.C. to win state titles at three different schools.

He finished with five 4A state championships and posted a 241-89-1 record in 28 seasons, including an 88-25 mark in nine seasons at Reynolds High.

He won state championships with the Rockets in 1999 and 2002. His other championships came at Fayetteville 71st (1984, ’86) and South View (1991).

“I’m extremely honored to be included with the list of people who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame here in WNC,” said Poss.

“I’m very grateful for the honor, and appreciate of the people who helped make this possible – the players, the coaches, the booster club members, family – just a long list of people who helped me so much.”

Simmons, 58, coached basketball for 30 years and volleyball for 25 seasons at Sylva-Webster and Smoky Mountain High. Her combined record was 897-483.

A standout high-school and college basketball player known as Cindi Saltz, she won three state championships coaching volleyball and posted a record of 383-203.

As a basketball coach (1988-2013), Simmons was 514-280 and won the state title in 2007.

“Wow! I can’t find words…it’s just a tremendous honor,” said Simmons. “It’s very humbling. I feel very blessed for the opportunities I’ve had and all the young people and colleagues I worked with. It wouldn’tbe possible without them.”

Stanley, 64, coached volleyball at West Henderson for 35 years (1975-2010). She won five state titles and finished with a 699-115 record.

Her basketball teams from 1980-97 were 281-161 and won a state title in 1991. Her combined record was 980-276.

She was an all-conference basketball player for four years at Hendersonville High.

“Coach Poss and Cindi, that’s good company to be in,” she said. “I loved being a coach for 35 years and wouldn’t have traded anything in the world for it. This is such a big honor.”